Building a brand that feels like it could truly make peoples’ lives better
Betterment is an original fintech pioneer. As a company, they've made a meaningful, positive impact on customers' finances for over 10 years. But as a brand, they were struggling to stand out. In order to grow and reposition for an IPO, they needed a new identity. They needed to leave behind their attempts at being another (blue) bank.
Creative directing this project, I wanted to solve how to build a visual identity that communicates the company's positive, meaningful impact. And I needed to find the whitespace in a competitive fintech landscape—and find a way to own it. The solution was to bring emotion to the forefront of the brand experience.
Betterment needed to create an emotional connection—both in marketing and within the product. We needed to build a brand that people can truly love.
A Symbol of Progress
For every one of us, the journey to financial wellbeing is lifelong and personal. So we created a symbol that evokes a path and progress, that feels optimistic, that’s beautiful and easy as a static symbol, and also elemental enough to be the foundation for an entire visual identity system.
The symbol’s simplicity allows it to be an anchor, and gives so much opportunity for activation in motion.
In marketing it stands out from the landscape, it’s instantly recognizable. And as a product feature, as a button on your phone, it’s a joy to look at, to tap, to engage with.
We brought people into the story and made them core to the new visual identity.
Focusing on specific, satisfying (and ownable) moments of achievement, instead of stock aspirational lifestyle imagery. We developed a custom illustration style to bring all the unique goals of Betterment's users to life.
A New, Warmer Color Palette compliments the the notion of a journey that feels refreshing and positive.
We wanted the overall palette to feel like the prospect of a new day-
Warm, Refreshing, Vibrant, Full of Possibility.
Full Case Study Coming Soon